Up In SMOK-Dissolve
by Falchion Wielder
Summary: Team SMOK returns for their second year at Beacon, still trying to recover from the disaster of a mission in their first year, and while the break went by without further issue, they can't afford to their guard down, for the incoming fight will be theirs, and theirs only, whether they want it or not. Volume 2 of my 'Up In SMOK' series.
1. Prologue

The second year at Beacon is when students can take what they had learned from their first year and go a few steps further, run with it all, and apply it all to more difficult endeavors they will encounter, furthering their journey's to being full-fledged hunters.

They will have more difficult classes, get assigned to more treacherous missions, and more responsibility in their lives as they progress.

Some teams make it through with flying colors, while others barely squeak through practically by the skin of their teeth, and then there are the slacker first-years that get held back, and have to start it all over again.

All of them have to adapt to the challenges they will inevitably face, and they all do in different ways, some more affective than others, but no matter what it's always unpredictable.

Apply all this, then put Team SMOK in the equation, and it gets straight up chaotic in their world. They are just happy to have the chance to _see_ their second year at all, given what they had seen and gone through.

They tried their best for the most part to keep quiet, mainly due to orders from Ozpin to not say anything about the whole escapade, no matter how many questions were asked, which basically meant they spent the majority of the second semester of their first year avoiding a lot of people, which for Koel, Olivia, and Silver wasn't to tough to do because they of course weren't the most talkative people to ever meet, though Marriott wasn't exactly as easy to keep track of since she is definitely much more outgoing than the previous three, and she often had to be dragged away from any scene in which she could have easily blabbed on about everything, which was normally out of frustration of so much indignation, something she of course wasn't used to considering her background.

But the school year eventually ended, and thus, so did their suffering from everything that had transpired, and they went their separate ways for the time being, until they had to come back together for their next year, hopefully a better year.

But hope was all they could hold on too regarding the situation, and they all had a sneaking suspicion that all they had encountered was done, they knew it wasn't all over, and they had to keep their guard up for anything and everything.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves, so for right now…

Marriott and Olivia had found each other at the shipyard after their respective bullheads, in which Marriott put down her things to run over and give the orange-haired knight a tight hug with her strong arms, one that made Olivia gasp and wheeze slightly from the tightness, and once over, they picked up their things after Olivia had actually dropped hers in surprise from the redheaded warriors borderline bearhug, and with suitcases in hand, they went on their way to Beacon while just idly talking about whatever happened over the summer, but they didn't find the other half of their team, and once they got to their ever familiar dorm room, they found why.

They found the door unlocked, and walking in, they found the two faunus sisters talking and taking care of their own belongings, but once they heard the door open, they turned their heads to see their partners in the doorway, and they smiled, Silver's a more welcoming and warm smile, while Koel's was more shy and reserved as expected, and Olivia and Marriott matched their smiles with their own.

Silver placed let go of her suitcase they rested on her bed and waved at the two humans, her smile persisting.

"Welcome back."

* * *

 **That has got to be the WORST freaking summary to ever be written. Like, ever... of all time.**

 **But whatever, this has taken me WAY too freaking long to start, but it's finally here, the second volume of Up In SMOK! Boom CONFETTI!**

 **What's funny is that I'm uploading this at the same time that the sun is being half-covered by the moon for the eclipse, which is awesome, so I'm going outside as soon as this is uploaded. Hope you guys thought the eclipse was cool, but of course I hope you like this prologue, and will enjoy the entirety of this story, no matter how irregular uploads may be. I will say this though, that the first two or three chapters will be uploaded in the next week because I already have most of those chapters written already. Yay, PROGRESS!**


	2. The Swing of Things

**This took a little longer to get out than I originally planned, but this week has been utter hell in getting set back up for school. But it's here now, and just a heads up, I have a little _something-something_ planned for this story tomorrow, and next week as well, so at least we're making progress, right... RIGHT!?**

 **...okay, whatever, just read the first real chapter damn it. Hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

"You girls looking forward to this year?" Marriott asked, noticing the other three hadn't said much about the upcoming year.

"I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to just surviving." Olivia responded. "And I'm sure I'm not the only one, isn't that right Silver?" She couldn't help but getting under her partners skin when given the chance now, and judging by the glare she received from the platinum-haired girl, too which she just smirked back at, she succeeded.

"Jeez Olly, that's low."

"…Olly?"

Silver shrugged. "I think if you're going to be so condescending, you should get something in return."

"And what better way than to give you a hilariously bad nickname!?" Marriott snickered.

The orange-haired girl rolled her eyes but didn't respond, instead choosing to just continue unpacking her things. Practically picking up from where they left off as a team from their first year, getting back to their normal antics, and playful banter.

Marriott looked at the only one in the room who hadn't spoken. "What about you Koel?" She inquired to her timid partner.

"W-what?"

"Have you picked up any new skills… like, y'know, socially?" She couldn't help but tease the poor girl about her timorous attitude, and she got a blush from Koel as reward.

"U-uh, w-well, I-I um…"

"I suppose that's your answer Marriott." Olivia scoffed.

"You're even more snide than you were last year Olivia."

"What's that supposed to mean Silver!?"

Yep, normal antics indeed.

* * *

After they set their dorm back up from what it was like the previous year (or so they remember at least), Marriott grabbed her partner by the arm and all but dragged a heavily blushing Koel out of the dorm to walk around the grounds of Beacon to catch up a bit, no matter how Koel objected, and leaving Silver and Olivia in the room by themselves. Being the first day back, classes wouldn't actually start until the next day so that the teams could get reacquainted with their surroundings, while the first years could get familiar with their own, and each other for that matter.

All this didn't leave Silver and Olivia with too many options to entertain themselves, so naturally the first idea that came to Silver's mind was…

"Want to go train a little?"

"Sure, why not?"

What else did you expect?

* * *

Training on the first days back was mainly for getting back into the flow of things, getting loosened up, and all-around getting set back up, especially for the second year students. There was a lot more to get ready for as second years, because while the first year was more preparation and showing what is to come later, the second year is more so when the situations get a little more difficult. An example that could be used is how the first and only mission for first years is observed and led by a superior, whereas there are two missions (one for each semester) for second years, and both are let up to the team themselves to do, with no extra guidance. You combine this with the ongoing studies that the students have to keep up with as well, and life at Beacon (and any other academy for that matter) gets pretty hellish.

There's a lot to balance, mentally and physically, for the teams, and all at once at that, so it was no wonder that the gym was at least half-full when Silver and Olivia arrived, with varying different classes of students doing their own thing to get themselves set back up, nothing too rigorous to speak of.

Silver and Olivia, being the introverts that they were (still nothing compared to Koel though), chose to do their business at the far side of the room where there wasn't really anyone else to bother them. Of course they stayed together, though they didn't really interfere with each other. They were mainly focused on warming themselves up.

Silver, given her fighting style, of course had to use a punching bag to help herself, though there was a lot more for her to do than just beat up on an inanimate object. A common misconstrue about the way she fought was that she was a boxer and nothing else, but that wasn't completely true. It WAS true that her main method of fighting was as a boxer, as entailed by her wristblades, but what a lot of people didn't know was that, along side her boxing training, she also got plenty of teaching in martial combat and grappling, which made her quite diverse indeed.

Her father had taught her practically everything she knew when it came to hand-to-hand combat. He started teaching her when she was around 10, and it was he that realized that straight boxing wasn't quite going to cut it for Silver. It's not that she was bad or anything, not at all, considering where she is now, but physically at the time, she didn't quite have the natural strength to just be a boxer. Compare her to someone like Yang, someone who has ridiculous natural strength and bulk, even enough to the point where she doesn't really need any other form of training, Silver just didn't quite have that, and that led to the need for her to be a little more distinct in the way of fighting.

While Silver was more of a boxer than anything, she wasn't a prototypical one, because in being trained in martial and grappling, she moved around a lot more, having more agility and speed than a regular brawler, making her less predictable and pedestrian, and a little more of a pain to deal with as an opponent.

This also led to her having more to keep up with in her own training, and she had to make sure at any time to keep herself sharp in all three styles.

Olivia on the other hand was a little more straight forward with her style, after all, how diverse can you really get if you use a sword? Growing up, she didn't really have many resources for training, her parents didn't really have much, if any knowledge, nor interest, in being hunters, or what it took to be one, so they could never really help Olivia in ways outside of calling others to teach her, which they never did too often because they didn't want their only daughter doing something as dangerous as being a huntress.

However, when her parents died, and she went to a foster home, it just so happened that one of the caretakers was a former hunter, so she approached him and wanted to learn from him. After a while of trying to find out what she worked best with, they mutually agreed that a sword was the best way to go. As generic as it might have been, it doesn't make her any less dangerous in battle.

The main thing that makes her difficult to fight is her semblance, a semblance that a lot of people wished they could have, despite how stereotypical it was. The fact that she could teleport in the middle of a battle, to just disappear then reappear a second later, catch her opponent by surprise and unleash attacks. Of course it took a while for Olivia to get used to her semblance, but after plenty of training with it (and knocking a lot of people over in surprise, something she got way too much enjoyment out of), she got used to it, figuring out how to use it as strategically as she could.

And on top of this, she wasn't too bad in hand-to-hand as well, now not on her partners level mind you, but she could at least hold her own, because she knew that there would be times where she would have to fight without her sword.

But despite how good of a fighter she is, Olivia seems to fall into the group of fighters that are often overlooked because of how generic they seem to be at first impression, but once you would fight her, you would never see her as 'generic' or 'average' again.

Silver and Olivia, even if they, to put it blunt, hated each other at the beginning, they've warmed up to one another, and they're great partners in combat, a great balance between power and agility, speed and strategy. They both knew the concept of battle, knew strategy well, and how to take care of themselves (on normal occasions at least).

They had an almost unconscious partnership, both of them being very instinct driven, leading them to be very compatible in many given situations, just so long as they agree with each other, which, granted, didn't always happen, but nothing is perfect.

Perfect or not, they worked great with each other, and even though neither would admit it (for the time being), they enjoyed being partners, and though they clearly had differences, they did mix well, a lot better than they really ever would have originally thought.

* * *

As opposed to the training going on in the gym with one half of the team, the other half were peacefully walking around the grounds of Beacon, talking back-and-forth, though Marriott was (predictably enough) doing most of the talking, speaking in her usual enthusiastic and ebullient way, hazel eyes glittering as they normally did when she did so, while Koel stayed mostly silent, as timid and diffident as ever, every once in a while speaking up when she felt like it.

Marriott and Koel were probably the most backwards and opposite from each other a pair of partners could ever be, Marriott being very outspoken and outgoing for that matter, while Koel was hardly anywhere remotely close to something like that, and the former of these two had to admit to herself every once in a while that sometimes she just talked to try to get her timid partner to say a word. She liked the sound of Koel's voice, part of that might be because she doesn't hear it too often, but the raven-haired girl's light and slightly high tone was… well, cute for lack of a better term.

But of course, their always came the urges to tease Koel, quite relentlessly at times, strictly for the sake of her reactions, and every once in a while she got graced with a different type of reaction; sometimes she would get a rosy blush across her cheeks, she would get both a blush and a stuttering mess, but her favorite kind of reaction was when Koel tried to glare at her, which more or less ended up looking more like a pout, which, if she had to be honest with herself, made the cat-faunus look a lot more cat like, though Marriott would never say that out loud, lest she actually offend her partner and leader. She might tease quite a bit, probably more than she should, but she knew the difference between 'teasing' and 'offending', something that she wished more people would learn.

Truth be told, many words described Marriott's personality; brazen, buoyant, jaunty, maybe even bumptious in some cases, but she's very kind and caring, and sometimes kind of hotheaded if you push her far enough. She could be described in many different ways.

Obviously, Koel was not at all like Marriott at first glance, and really, at any point for the most part. Unlike her redheaded partner, words like timorous, farouche, withdrawn, and even inhibited were best for describing her. She was very much a pusillanimous girl, and had a very strong self-effacing way about her, wanting to slip into the shadows and hide in them a lot of the time, which ultimately gave her the ability to practically master the element of surprise in battle, but she also had such a palpable social awkwardness that it made it hard for her to translate her thoughts into words at a given time, and it made her such an easy target of bullying when she spent those few months in the orphanage she found herself in when at an early age, and that only served to give her more reason to slip into the shadows of her imagination even further.

Though she was this way normally, she becomes a completely different person in battle, and even more so when in 'ultimate protection mode' as Marriott called it, which mostly surfaced when Silver is involved.

Despite the obvious differences they had, they found ways to get along and work well with each other, even if Koel might be difficult to communicate with for someone as outgoing as Marriott, and how Marriott's exuberance can be a little overwhelming for someone as soft-spoken as Koel. They enjoyed each others company, they trusted one another, and if they were honest, which for the record, wouldn't be a problem for Marriott, but somewhat of a challenge for Koel, they were both happy being each others partner, and they didn't think that would change for the immediate time.

They eventually made their way back to the lobby in Beacon, and once they went through the doors, Marriott looked back at Koel who was lagging slightly behind her partner. "Hey Koel, want to go to the gym for a little?"

Koel's eyes widened slightly, and she saw Marriott smirk at her. After being a partner to the tall redhead for a year now, she knew exactly that she would be in for it when Marriott flashed _that_ look at the mention of the gym.

"U-uhhh..."

Before she gave Koel even a mere chance at truly responding, Marriott grabbed the arm of the near petrified girl. "Glad to hear it, lets go!"

"B-b-but, M-Marriott, whyyyy?!"

* * *

 **For point of fact, I had way too much fun writing that ending for some reason, and I sincerely hope you guys enjoyed the first real chapter of volume 2. I want to be able to update this on the weekends, at least that's what I have planned, but there's no guarantee, especially if I'm involved, as I'm sure many of you (if not all) have learned that by now. I will do my best however to alert you guys when I can't update one week, or if something happens that keeps from doing so, or if I even need to step away from writing, whatever it might be, you guys should see an update saying as such.**

 **And if I forget to do that... well sue me.**

 **That's it for me now, I'll talk to you guys next time (aka tomorrow)!**


	3. A Great Morning

**Well this is a very short chapter, mainly just a bunch of dialogue, but I will say, I did enjoy writing this, especially the beginning, haha! Yeah, I'm a pervert in some ways, but seriously, I'm a senior in high school in this day and age, what else do you expect from someone like me?**

 **Hope the shortness of this chapter is not a problem, so please, do enjoy! (Or don't I guess, up to you)**

* * *

 _POP_

Marriott brought her head back up from her scroll, looking around confusedly, searching for the source of the strange sound inside their dorm. Not finding anything definitive, she looked to her teammates. "What was that?"

Olivia shook her head, looking equally as confused. "I don't know." She answered, and Koel also shook her head.

Marriott looked to the only one that didn't respond. "Silver? Do you know what that was?" She asked her leader, who currently was not looking at her, or around the room, but instead gazing straight down, and to their confusion, and amusement for that matter, they could see a blush coming to her cheeks. Marriott raised an eyebrow at her. "Silver?"

"U-uhhh…" Was the only response Silver made for a few seconds, and her hand came up to cover her chest. "Y-yeah, I know what that was."

The redhead was about to question further, but noticed a small object laying on the ground in front of the platinum-haired leader. She squinted to see what it was, and found it to be a button from their uniforms. _'Why would that be… there…'_ Her thought trailed off, and she came to the realization of what had just happened to Silver, and upon realizing this, she started to smirk, looking back up at the younger girl who apparently just had a serious wardrobe malfunction. "You have GOT to be KIDDING me Silver!" She said, pointing at the button on the ground in front of her, and she started to giggle as Silver's face grew redder and redder by the second. "You popped a button on your uniform!"

"S-shut up." Silver grumbled back, embarrassed beyond words and definition, making more of an effort to cover her chest with her arms.

Marriott started to full-on laugh now at her leader's misfortune, and Olivia and Koel couldn't help but giggle as well. "You must have done some SERIOUS growing over the break!" Marriott exclaimed, falling back onto her bed in her fit of laughter.

Silver's face was now as red as Alexandrite's sword is when she is angry. "Marriott!" She shrieked in her embarrassment, though all this accomplished was making Marriott laugh even harder.

"Well she did grow a cup size I'm pretty sure." Koel said, giggling along with her partner. She couldn't help but join in on this, even if it did embarrass her sister to unimaginable heights.

Silver turned around to glare at Koel. "You are NOT helping!" She growled in a very cat like way.

Olivia stopped her giggling, putting her hands up in front of her. "Calm down Silver, we're just teasing. It's completely natural, you still had some growing to do. You just seemed to have grown a little more than anticipated."

This did nothing in the way of making Silver calmer. "Unfortunately. For your information, I am NOT proud of this." She said, looking down to the ground again.

Marriott scoffed, interrupting her laughing fit. "Oh _please_ , most girls would _kill_ to have what you do." She waggled her eyebrows at the end.

The platinum-haired leader rolled her eyes, and walked over to their closet to get another, hopefully better fitting uniform. "And their interest in this involves doing things _I_ am _not_ interested in doing." She started carefully unbuttoning her defective (that's what she wanted to think of it) uniform. "By the way Marriott, you're a pervert."

"Not the first time I've been called that." Marriott joked with another giggle.

"Why am I not surprised by this?"

After Silver put on a larger shirt, which ended up feeling a little too loose around her shoulders, and just a tad too long, she heard her scroll vibrate on her bed, receiving some text.

As she was walking over to it, Marriott spoke once again. "Well, at least no buttons are popping now." She chuckled away again.

Silver stopped briefly, took a deep breath, and let it through her nose before looking at the offending redhead with a small glare. "If you don't stop, I will electrocute you so hard, you will see the future."

Olivia hummed. "That actually would be very useful."

"Then I can electrocute you too."

Silver picked up her scroll, and looked at the message sent to her. "Who would send a text this early before classes though?" Marriott asked.

"Ozpin, who else?" Silver answered, reading the text. "He's just reminding us that we're not supposed to talk about what happened last year, as if we could forget being warned in the first place."

"Why would we even need to talk about it now?" Koel inquired.

"Because I expect some people to keep asking us about it." Olivia replied. "There are people who won't let it go until they find out."

Silver nodded. "Exactly, so we'll need to be sure we don't just blurt everything out. "She concluded this with a side glance at Marriott.

"Why'd you look at me?!"

"Why do you think?"

The redhead pouted. "I promise I won't 'blurt' anything out."

"I hope so."

"Seriously you two," Olivia reprimanded them. "Outside of being quiet, what else are we going to do about this?" She looked down in thought. "It's not like we can go the entire year pretending everything didn't happen."

"I wish we could," Silver sighed. "But I don't know what we can do, believe me, I would love to do something, like find out why that wolf wanted Koel, and why she was so adamant about it, but I don't know how."

Marriott hummed in thought, cupping her chin as she did so. "I think it's clear enough that she somehow knew Koel, considering how much she wanted to get her," she pointed at Koel. "And how you say she seems familiar, I can't think of anything else."

The mentioned midnight-haired girl looked down, now lost in her own mind. Throughout the entire time after that disaster of a mission, even the entire summer, she had a nagging, troubling feeling about that women. From the first time she laid her eyes on Coleen when she was standing over Silver's fallen, unconscious body in Vale, something just sparked in her mind, something very hazy filled her mind, but she didn't know why. It was almost as if something she had forgotten was trying to be remembered.

She thought back to the scars on her arms and legs, and how she has had them for literally as long as she could remember, but has always kept them hidden from sight, not daring to show anyone other than Silver and Alexandrite, she had even kept Marriott and Olivia from seeing them. Even in her school uniform, she hid them with elbow-long fingerless gloves that she really didn't like wearing, and to her surprise they were inside the dress code (lucky her), and thigh-high stockings.

Every once in a while, she would be asked why she always keeps herself hidden, and she always would respond with something along the lines of "I don't like showing myself". Even if one scar is seen by someone, she could always say it was just from "a childhood accident".

Even if she was extremely reserved and shy, she had developed herself into being a good liar.

"What is Alexandrite planning on doing?" Olivia's question broke her out of her internal musings.

Silver sighed again and shrugged at her partner. "Honestly, I would like to know also. The thing is, she never said anything, she determined very early on that nothing would be said at all, so really, I don't even know what she will do."

"Really, nothing?" Marriott questioned, sighing in exasperation. "Way to leave us in the dark."

Silver shrugged again, at a loss for more words. "I don't know what to tell you. I guess we just wait and watch for now."

An uneasy silence engulfed the room, but was broken when Olivia's sight drifted to their clock, and her eyes widened. "Uh, speaking of watching, we really should have been watching the time." The other three looked at the clock as well, and their eyes widened along with Olivia's. "Class starts in five minutes."

"Oh shit!" Marriott exclaimed, catapulting off her bed and scrambling to the door.

"Great," Silver face-palmed. "Just great, first day of our second year, and we're going to be late to class. This will be an AMAZING year!"

"Can we cut the sarcasm, and worry about getting to class!?" Koel said as they ran out of the room.

"Besides," Marriott started as they worked their way down the hall. "Team RWBY said they were late to their first class the past couple years, so at least we're not alone on that front."

"That doesn't make anything better!"

* * *

 **...don't look at me like that, admit it, you laughed too! Right!?**

 **...okay, I'll admit, I have a really strange sense of humor, but whatever, don't judge me! In all seriousness, I hope you guys enjoyed this and found as entertaining as I did, despite how short it is. I'll talk to you guys next chapter!**


	4. Got Your Tail (Part 1)

**Guess what, two updates in a row, one after another! Proof that magic is real.**

 **This is actually something I'm going to do periodically throughout this story, which is just writing these little one-shot like chapters that aren't really related to the actually story objective. I thought it would just be something fun to do, and it would also keep myself writing, at least a little. So anyway, enjoy this, 'cause I sure did!**

* * *

While Silver was a little… distant at first meeting, as she warmed up to people, she tended to get… well, not _clingy_ , but definitely _closer_ to those people, and seemingly without so much as a word of warning, it just seemed to kind of… _happen_

Olivia had no idea that her normally stoic partner would be this way, she just figured she would just stay close enough be friendly, but far enough away to never show herself being vulnerable or anything. But one day, Olivia found herself to be wrong on this front.

From the moment they woke up on this Saturday, Olivia noticed a certain shift in Silver's personality. She seemed more… open, showing a little more than normal, and getting a bit more closer than what Olivia was used to.

The orange-haired girl didn't want to bring it up, but instead just wanted to enjoy a quiet day off from classes, but late afternoon, when Marriott was out in Vale with a friend from Vacuo, and Koel was out supposedly walking the grounds as she normally did in her free time, Silver and Olivia were left in the dorm.

It was at this time that Olivia was starting to get a little creeped out by the actions of her partner. All the knight was doing was lounging on her bed, silently reading a book she had brought from her foster home, just relaxing, or at least she was trying, but it was a little difficult to concentrate when someone was pressed against your side.

Which was _exactly_ what Silver was doing!

Olivia personally didn't think of herself as a very soothing and comforting presence, but apparently the cat-faunus had a different opinion today, for _whatever_ reason.

Olivia was probably as confused about this than she ever has been about ANYTHING.

But now, her curiosity and utter confusion has gotten the better of herself, and she was finally caving in, and was going to ask what was going on, but when she looked at Silver to question her, she found that her eyes were closed, body curled slightly, steadily breathing, and Olivia's eyes widened in disbelief. _'She's freaking ASLEEP!?'_

Olivia sighed in slight exasperation, and resigned to her fate, knowing she was stuck here for the time being. She folded the top of her current page, closed her book, and laid back, deciding to just deal with it. She had to admit, it was calming like this. She supposed that once she could get past this, she could get used to it… maybe.

As the minutes went by, Olivia felt her eyelids starting to get heavy. The sound of Silver's quiet breathing as she slept was making her tired as well, and before she knew it, she found herself falling asleep as well.

Until she felt something very peculiar against her hip.

Her eyes shot open abruptly. _'What the hell was that-DID IT JUST WIGGLE?!'_

Indeed, whatever she felt just wiggled against her waist, and it also felt like it was coming from Silver's… _'Oh gods.'_

Olivia rustled around on the sheets, sliding over to the other side of the bed, and all this movement caused Silver to stir. "Ughh, Olivia, what the hell?" She groaned out.

Olivia, suddenly wide awake, shook her head. "Silver… what is that?" She hesitantly questioned, pointing at the protruding object in Silver leggings.

Silver stretched her arms out, yawning, and she looked at her partner with a slightly confused look through her half-lidded, sleepy crimson eyes, something Olivia probably would have found infinitely adorable, if it wasn't for her current frantic state. "T-that." She clarified, pointing closer to the… _thing_ in Silver leggings.

Silver blinked at her, looking down at where she was pointing, and after a couple seconds of processing, her eyes widened as she realized what exactly the currently edgy knight was referring too. She scrambled up to her knees, sitting up as Olivia was, and she quickly shook her head. "Okay, Olivia, I swear, it's NOT what you think it is."

"N-no, it's fine if it is, I-I won't judge you on it, seriously!"

Silver shook her head again, this time in agitation at her partner's rare show of ignorance, and she groaned to herself. "No, seriously Olivia, it's not a dick! Here, I'll show you!" Silver then turned her upper body around, and dug her hand into the back of her leggings.

Olivia's eyes went even wider (if you can believe that), and her face erupted into a bright red hue, nearly falling off the side of the bed. "S-SHOW me!?"

"YES!" Silver growled through gritted teeth.

Olivia couldn't process what was going on anymore, not like she really could from the start anyway. This was all so SUDDEN, first her and Silver were perfectly comfortable in their previous position, and now her leader wanted to show her some… _wiggly_ thing that was in her _pants_! WHAT WAS EVEN GOING ON ANYMORE-a tail.

A tail…

Silver had… a tail…

… SILVER HAD-okay you get the picture by now, but Olivia still was having difficulty processing this discovery as she blankly stared at it, while Silver held it still to her side with a bright blush of her own. "I typically just keep it wrapped around my thigh, but when I'm sleeping it sometimes just wiggles around on its own to find where it's warmest." She muttered, letting go of her newly discovered tail (newly discovered for her teammate that is), letting it fall onto the bed, and the tip started to gently move up and down as it did.

Olivia continued to stare at it, and she eventually shook her head to herself. What the HELL was she thinking!? That Silver had a… you know what? Silver, who had been looking down at the bed sheets, tentatively looked up at her, her blush persisting still. "I'm sorry it freaked you out, I don't blame you for doing so, it's not like you've seen it until now."

Olivia groaned, and hung her head down in infinite embarrassment. "Listen, if you forget everything that I implied, I will forget that you violated me with your tail, deal?"

"Deal." Silver complied without hesitation.

They sat in what was probably the most awkward silence ever for a few seconds, Silver staring off into nothing, her blush still visible, though fading slowly, while Olivia started to become slightly mesmerized by her tail as she began to stare again. It had now started to fully swish around, up-and-down, and side-to-side since it had been let go of, and Olivia couldn't help but think that it made her partner look better than before. It was just so cute, and the fur looked so soft, much like the fuzzy looking ears on the top of Silver's head.

But there was something new she was curious about. "Why do you keep it hidden though?"

Silver shrugged, her eyes looking unfocused as she gazed down at her tail. "It's not really fun when people would go out of their own way to just reach out, grab, and pull on it, so I just made a habit of keeping it hidden away."

Olivia nodded in understanding, but she felt a little bad that her partner felt the need to keep it hidden from her and Marriott. While she was aware of her past hatred for faunus', she wasn't the type to go out of her way to cause them pain if not unprovoked. "Silver, you don't need to hide it around me."

Silver looked at her with a questioning look. "You sure? It doesn't, like, bother you or anything?"

"It'll take time getting used to, but it's fine, really." She reassured.

The platinum-haired girl nodded, and got up from the bed without a response, stretching a bit more, before walking towards the bathroom, her feline tail swinging back-and-forth all the while. "Well if you say so." She stopped in the doorway, and looked back at Olivia, a strange, almost _teasing_ glint in her eyes. "And also, sorry about getting so close to you today, I never realized what exactly I was doing." And with that, she closed the bathroom door behind her.

Olivia sat there, just sitting on the bed, staring aimlessly at the bathroom door. _'What just happened?'_ And then it hit her, and she sighed exasperatedly, narrowing her eyes at the closed door. _"Wait, she knew EXACTLY what she was doing was making me uncomfortable… ohhhh, that freaking… WOMAN!'_

* * *

 **As you can tell from the title of this, there's going to be another part, something I'm going to enjoy writing just as much probably. By the way guys, if any of you want to request anything for later short chapters, I'd be open to writing some of them, because I honestly feel a little more comfortable writing one-shots, which is kind of the feeling I got from writing this. So yeah, if you guys want to request any ideas of your own, I'll see what I can do with them. Regardless, I will post more of these 'one-shot' like chapters, and I hope you will enjoy them.**

 **That's it for now, I'll talk to you guys hopefully next week!**


	5. Unaffected

**Hey guys! I'm sorry for posting late, and the post not even being part of the main series of the story, but I didn't really have a lot of time to work on the next real chapter because of projects and a test from school. Yeah, projects and a test in the first two weeks of school. Yay classes!**

 **Another complication was the fact of Hurricane Irma being a thing, and since my family and I live in North Carolina, we were in the projected route of Irma, so I had to help stock up just in case, but since Irma is looking like she is going to go into Tennessee, I could start writing again, and feel comfortable. And real quick, since I used to live in Florida, I know what it's like to be in hurricanes, and I want to wish everyone good luck and to be as safe as they can be.**

 **Back to this though, I think that from here on through this story (for the most part at least), I'm probably going to be posting these short, one-shot-like chapters to update you guys on what's going on, and give you guys some kind of content at the same time. So anyway, enjoy this here!**

* * *

Pressure was a real thing, something serious that could get to your head. It was hard to ignore, to keep it away, and keep yourself from getting stressed about, and it came in all different forms.

Silver could give you a full lesson on pressure, expectations, and stress by herself. Her family has a large part in faunus society. They were inspirations for faunus' to be hunters, to go out and make a difference.

Her family had been this for a long while, since around the time the Great War ended. They had made a habit of getting into Beacon, and being great hunters and huntresses. It wasn't really a long family tree, but more like _wide_. She had cousins among cousins, younger and older than her, who have gotten into Beacon or Haven, or in the younger one's cases, aspiring to be. She had aunts and uncles that did the same, and for point of fact, her aunt from her mothers' side of the family was a teacher in Haven.

However, despite the sheer amount of relatives she had that made a name for themselves, Silver had done something none of them had done.

Get into Beacon at a younger age.

 _That_ was stressful for her.

Silver typically wasn't somebody who let the pressure get to them, it just wasn't who she was. She was normally fairly levelheaded when it came to outside talk, just keeping a simple, even-keel.

But there were those times that it just did get to her. During summer break, she had gone with Alexandrite and Koel to Managerie, and she found out how much of an inspiration she had become to young children after word had reached the island of her getting into Beacon a year early, and she found herself so… dumbfounded by it all. It was one thing for her younger cousins and such to look up to her like they did, but people she didn't even know?

It was times like that that she felt like an entire race rested on her shoulders.

Silver knew that was a ridiculous notion, just a figment of her imagination, but on some occasions, that figment won.

And something she hated about herself was that she refused to voice her discomfort, no matter who asked or approached her. She just couldn't bring herself to say anything feeling as though it was too much trouble for other people, and she loathed feeling like she was burdening someone else with her own problems.

' _But who actually does?'_

That's what her inner voice tells her as justification, but she knew that voice was wrong. She knew plenty of people, relatives, and friends, old and new, that did say what they needed to when they had to.

' _It's just so overwhelming.'_

It truly was, the feeling of disappointing the people she cared for when she needed to be better. The possibility of doing something to completely wipe out her family's name. That feeling of being below everyone's expectations.

' _It's just so much.'_

It was a fact of life that everyone had certain expectations, whether they were made for themselves or by others. But it didn't matter who they were spawned by, the point was that they were there, regardless of origin.

But what was really hard for her was that she had to act like she was _unaffected_ by it all. She was unaffected by the work. Unaffected by all the surmise. Unaffected by the pressure. She had to be _unaffected._

And as far as anyone was concerned, she was.

But what do they know?

' _Only what they want me to be.'_

They thought they knew her. They thought they knew who Silver really was.

They also had another thing coming.

No one truly saw how badly she took it all. In truth, she was just a great actress. There were times it all became too much, and she just needed to go somewhere private and quiet to vent, to just let it all out, and once she was done, she was back to unaffected Silver, the one she _had_ to be.

It was almost a going pattern, never ending. Just a rinse and repeat cycle.

She clearly wasn't unaffected, but she could never show it.

She didn't know who she could be, or how she should act when all eyes are on her, relentlessly judging her. Who was she supposed to be?

Silver always felt that, no matter what her answer was, she was wrong.

She wasn't unaffected.

She felt surrounded by these feelings with no escape. She was the leader of a team at Beacon, virtually every decision on her, her teammates well-being _her_ responsibility, and, oh yeah, she also had classes to keep up with!

There were times she just overworked herself, often causing herself fatigue. Another affect of the pressure. Just _so. Much. To. DO!_

And yet…

There were times she felt that pressure lift ever so slightly. She felt like that at the very beginning of the second year. Silver didn't realize it at first, but when she did, she had no answer. She just felt… lighter.

But now, she believes she has found out why. Before, Silver had felt alone, solitary, just on her own with those thoughts. She could never bring herself to trust like that, to share her vulnerability, always afraid of being mocked and satirized.

Silver had been lied to, betrayed, and left behind by people she thought were her friends.

She had trust issues for a reason.

The cat-faunus didn't know how to handle it all. She could never feel comfortable.

That feeling had started to dwindle since the beginning of the year, and she had deduced that her team has got to be the answer. She felt safer with them than most others she'd ever been around. Of course she had already felt like this around Koel, but now she was feeling that Olivia and Marriott were getting damn close to rivaling that level of faith.

She hadn't quite built up the courage to test that faith, which Silver knew was unfair. She knew they deserved as much, to be trusted to that extent. Silver just didn't feel like she was ready to try, but maybe soon she-

"Are you okay Silver?"

Silver was brought back to reality, not even realizing that she was utterly lost in her own mind. She looked over at the bed next to hers, finding the owner of the question, and a slightly concerned expression on the face of Olivia, her partner.

' _My partner.'_

At the very least, she deserved to be trusted with Silver's vulnerabilities. She changed her views on faunus', found a way to get along with Silver, and backed up Silver in ways that many people had never done before. She has _earned_ that right at this point. While they still had bumps to smooth out in their friendship, she cared enough to see that something was troubling Silver, and wanted to know what it was, just so she knew that her partner- _friend_ was alright.

Seeing the genuine concern on Olivia's face brought an equally genuine smile to Silver's.

"Yeah Olivia, just lost in thought. Don't worry."

The response was no less genuine.

* * *

 **This is actually an idea that I have had for a while, and at some points in chapters I have written, I have included some ideals about certain things in life, whether my own, or others I have witnessed, and it's just one of my ways that I make my stories more personal and genuine, if that makes any sense. I base all four characters; Silver, Olivia, Marriott, and Koel off of some parts of myself. My personality, my feelings, thoughts, etc, and that's part of what I mean by making this more personal and genuine. I also want to point out that this was actually heavily inspired by the song Unaffected by Hoobastank, and if you guys listen to that song, you will see the similarities.**

 **Hopefully I'll have the next real chapter up this week at some point, I'll try at least. I'm sure it's going to be fun to read, but it's been kinda hard to write, but oh well, I'll get it done soon. Hope y'all enjoyed this, and I'll talk to you guys next time!**


	6. Bragging Rights

**Hoooolllyyyyy crap this was fun, but hellish to write, because let me tell you, I'm uploading this at 1 AM! On a SCHOOL night to say the least... tomorrow's gonna suck.**

 **But seriously, this was fun to write, and it's definitely one that I want to hear your opinion's on. Also, to answer Nemasis Demarini's question that I said I'd answer here (I'm actually answering this after I already submitted this once, so yeah, I forgot at first. YAY ME!). Nemasis asked what Olivia is based on, and I will tell you that you were pretty spot on with all your guesses; she is based off fragile trust, and the changes that I have gone through, and I'll give you Koel's and Marriott's sides, I figure I might as well; Koel is based off of my shy and timid part whenever I meet new people, and really, my social awkwardness in general, while Marriott is based off of my desire to be happy, and to make others happy, while also having a very active temper at the same time.**

 **Without further ado, here it is!**

* * *

Marriott normally didn't bother smiling after a school day, she was just too tired or uninterested. Even with her seemingly unending enthusiasm, classes appeared to be the one thing that can top her ebullient ways.

...so you could imagine that when she walked into her team's dorm with a shit-eating grin and an excited glint in her hazel eyes, there were questions to be asked.

"What are you grinning about?" Olivia asked as Marriott entered. "Or should I be concerned about the answer, because when it comes to you, a smile like that typically means trouble."

Marriott looked at her, her grin persisting, if not even widening a little. "Welllll…" she dragged out. "I talked to Professor Goodwitch about tomorrow's sparring class, and she said she has something _special_ planned."

For the other three, now was really a time to worry, considering it was _Marriott_ who tells them this.

"Uh," Koel murmured uncertainly. "Does it involve us?"

"Maaayyybeee." The redhead chuckled. "All I'll say is that sparring class will be fun to watch tomorrow."

Her teammates just dubiously stared at her. "...whatever." Silver muttered. "I'm now sure the world is going to end tomorrow, but I'll wait and see."

Marriott scoffed, rolling her eyes. "You guys sure aren't very trusting. You act like you're going to have a battle to the death."

Tch, well," Olivia started her rebuttal. "When you come in here smirking about _something_ that Goodwitch has planned, something that might or might not involve us, there is going to be some serious cause for concern."

The redhead made a fake noise of distress, putting a hand to her chest and a hurt look on her face. "Y'all are so mean! What have I done to deserve this?"

"Being yourself." Silver joked, rolling her own eyes.

"S-so, you're not going to actually t-tell us what's going on?" Koel questioned her partner.

Marriott cut her act, her grin reappearing. "Nope," she answered, popping the 'p'. "I'll keep it a surprise for you guys."

Well, if that was all they were going to end up knowing about it, they figured they would leave it at that. At least they had something to look forward to the next day. It wasn't often that Goodwitch had anything new to for her students to do, after all, sparring class did tend to be a very cut-and-dry class. Professor Goodwitch kept it pretty consistent, mainly because she was the head of the combat training process, as it was determined at the beginning of the year that her classes would alternate with battle strategy taught by Professor Peach. For example of how exactly this works, one day the first and second year students would have sparring, while the third and fourth years would have battle strategy, and then the next day it would switch. They just figured it was easier this way, and a bit more efficient.

The fact that professor Goodwitch had something specific in mind for them tomorrow gave them something to be excited about. It wasn't like sparring wasn't a good class, in fact it was a lot of students' favorite one, but as already stated, it was typically very cut-and-dry, always a few fights a day, and while they were all randomly chosen that was typically the only thing different from day-to-day.

But now something was actually being set up for them, or their class at least, though they wouldn't know what it is until the next day, so all they could do is just imagine and theorize what was planned.

* * *

As already said, sparring was a lot of students' favorite time of the school day for a variety of reasons, like being able to vent some frustration if chosen to fight, or get back at someone if you were lucky enough, or you could just have some fun fighting, and even if you weren't chosen, you could just sit back and watch the battles. Some were complete washes, while some were really close, but it didn't really take away from the entertainment factor.

But now today, it was about to get a little more interesting.

"Miss Porcello, Doncieux, you two are up next."

And now they knew what Goodwitch had planned.

The other students started murmuring as a result of the call. In their first years, Silver and Olivia were quickly recognized as one of the best fighters in their class, though they had not been called to spar against each other, and really, they had never had a true spar. The two had obviously trained together, and tested out different moves, maneuvers and skills with one another, but they had not had a serious spar.

So the fact that two of the most skilled fighters were being called down to spar in front of the entire class was a little exciting to say the least.

Silver and Olivia were a little wide-eyed at the announcement, though they did get a feeling of anticipation in their chests. Anyone who was ever called to fight had said at some point that the main thing they would try to do is showoff their skills, weapons, and semblance. That was pretty much the point of fighting in front of the class, to just flaunt everything that made you worthy of getting into Beacon in the first place. It was a way that you could establish yourself as a fearful opponent, someone that should not be messed with under normal circumstances.

Silver and Olivia had gotten plenty of chances to do so in their first year, and they took full advantage of said chances (outside of their first time fighting as partners in their first year, which they obviously didn't like to be reminded of). They proved early on they were not to be screwed with. Both were smart, strong, versatile, and competitive. They both showed exceptional control of their semblances, being able to use them when they needed too, and how too.

They got up from their seats, and they heard Marriott call to them. They looked back at her, and she smiled, giving them a thumbs up. "Put on a show."

Koel smiled as well, and nodded at them. "Have fun."

Silver and Olivia nodded back at them, and walked down to the floor of the arena, and as they reached the floor, the platinum-haired leader turned around to face her partner. "Friendly competition?" She stuck her arm out as she asked.

Olivia looked at her offering before smirking at her. "And bragging rights of course." She then reached her own arm out, touching her forearm to Silver's

Silver matched her smirk. "Of course." With that, they separated and went to opposite sides of the floor. Their words weren't to smug or arrogant, just some good-natured, friendly banter.

…okay, maybe they were a little smug, but it was mostly friendly banter. Since the two had settled their differences, and learned to work together after their early struggles, they had developed somewhat of a friendly rivalry, and in getting the chance to spar in front of their entire class, and show what more they could do, both to the class and each other, there was no better time than now to gain the advantage on the other.

"Get set!" Glynda ordered the two partners-turned combatants in this moment-once they were facing each other from opposite sides of the arena. The two did as told, planting themselves firmly on the ground they stood, with Olivia drawing Parallel Egress, while Silver activated Azurewrath, then assuming their stances with practiced poise. Anticipation from the two fighters and the students observing filled the air, and all was quiet, until…

"Begin!"

The two at first slowly walked forward a few steps, and before they were both in the middle of the floor, Olivia charged first to quickly close the rest of the distance, raising Parallel Egress and forcefully bringing it down on her partner, who stopped and firmly planted herself, bracing for the impact of the orange-haired knights' sword, raising Azurewrath in defense once Olivia came down upon her.

Silver stood her ground, stopping Olivia in her tracks as Parallel Egress came into contact with Azurewrath, initiating a short stalemate. The two grunted in effort as they tried to push the other back, but after a few seconds, Silver succeeded in doing so, her superior physical strength outmatching her partner's. She forced Olivia back, starting her offensive attack, throwing a few right and left hooks without pause, but Olivia was able to block all of which, except the last one, which she ducked under to get an opening at Silver's midsection, thrusting forward at her. Silver's aura pulsed against her stomach, pushing herself back as she momentarily lost her breath. She stumbled back slightly, and before she could fully recover, Olivia hit her with an upward strike, causing Silver's aura to once again pulse against her. She fell backwards, but recovered quicker this time, getting her hands under her before she landed, and nimbly back-flipped her way back to her feet.

Olivia continued her offensive, slashing left and right, but Silver avoided all of them, backing away from each attack. On her last slash however, she used it to as a way to channel her semblance by slashing in front of herself and across her body, and she disappeared from sight.

Silver blinked, caught off-guard from Olivia's sudden use of her semblance, but she quickly remembered what Olivia had said about her semblance from the previous year, that she had to see where exactly she was going to go to teleport, and right before she disappeared, Silver saw her eyes briefly dart behind her and to her left, so her first instinct was to get away from that spot.

Silver did just that, jumping away from her previous position as soon as the teleporter reappeared. The versatile brawler landed to the right of that spot, and used the momentum from her square landing to launch herself at her partner as quickly as she could, this time catching the knight off-guard. Silver threw a left hook, which Olivia barely blocked, though Silver had only used that to distract her and knock her balance off, throwing a right uppercut with practically blinding speed, landing it right on the underside of Olivia's jaw, her aura taking the brunt of Silver's wrist blades, not to mention her raw physical strength.

Olivia stumbled back, shaking her head to regain her senses, and to stop her slightly spinning vision. It might have been just one hit, and the first Silver had landed on her, but that was all it took to take out a substantial amount of her aura. She also made a mental note to be a little more guarded when she uses her semblance, she knew her aura can't take too many of those kinds of hits.

Once she recovered, she wasted no time in trying to get back at Silver, rushing her again, and propelling herself forward off of her back foot with near-blazing speed, Parallel Egress outstretched, stabbing straight ahead at Silver, who sidestepped just in time as Olivia passed her, her momentum taking her slightly past her target. Silver counter attacked with a spinning kick, aimed for Olivia's midriff, though it was blocked, and the orange-haired knight pushed Silver's leg away, sending her moderately off balance. As Silver landed unevenly on her stricken leg, Olivia hit her shoulder with a horizontal slash.

Silver jumped back, grimacing from the sting in her shoulder, and she shot off some bullets from the magazine inside Azurewrath to drive Olivia back, but if there was one area in combat, it was shooting, close range or long, and it showed when yet again when most of them missed Olivia entirely, and the ones that were somewhat on target, or at least closer, she was able to teleport away from as they were shot.

Silver cursed internally to herself, then decided to forgo shooting all together until she trained next, knowing she still had a lot of practice ahead of herself, and charged Olivia this time and started her own offensive assault, throwing fierce punches and jabs, even some kicks here and there, driving Olivia back in the arena, but the swordswoman blocked all, clanging noises echoed quietly every time Parallel Egress and Azurewrath made contact.

Silver eventually got tired of this, eventually jumping back briefly, but finally using her own semblance for the first time in the battle, electricity starting to spark around and crackle around her wrist. She jumped high and towards Olivia, reared her arm back, and with a cry, came soaring down towards her, attempting to spike Olivia into the ground, but she teleported away as Silver landed where she once was, causing an actual cracking sound, and she reappeared next to the team leader, trying an upward strike at her as she was down, but said leader saw in time, jumping away again, as Olivia blitzed her once more, Silver this time blocking her onrushing attacks as Olivia had done to hers, more clangs echoing.

After a few seconds, Olivia made the mistake of dropping her defenses, making herself wide open, and Silver took advantage, ducking under a horizontal strike, and landing a few lightning-quick (fitting huh?…) punches to her abdomen. Olivia staggered back, but Silver didn't stop there, as the knight reeled, she used her semblance again, electricity once again wrapping around Azurewrath, and then she launched at Olivia, attempting one of her more risky, but absolutely powerful attacks. It was risky in the way that if she missed, she was left open, but if she hit, it would take away much of Olivia's aura, which would definitely take her dangerously close to the limit. It was a move that she herself had thought of, and Alexandrite had affectionatelynamed it the Jolt Haymaker.

Olivia didn't have time to react, and she was hit with the full force of one of her partners' strongest attacks. She flew back, landing on her back and just in front of the wall of the arena. She got up, feeling the affects of the strike. _Gods_ Silver hit hard. It's not like Olivia didn't expect any different, after all, one look at Silver would give the idea that a hit from her would at least make you feel the pain if you didn't have your guard up. It was very seldom when you didn't feel at least some sting.

She all but pushed herself back, and glared at her opponent, trying to think of a way to get the advantage back, knowing that she didn't have a lot of aura left before she had to concede any defeat. Olivia was aware that she couldn't hit as hard as Silver, she had to hit multiple times so they could stack on top of each other, so she needed to think of a way to do this.

Silver glared back at her, slowly walking across the floor towards her, ready for Olivia to come at her again, ready to defend if need be. With Olivia all the way across the arena after her latest hit, she didn't want to go charging after her, feeling that would leave her more open to counter attack than give her more advantage.

The entire class was silent, watching in reverence, some of the students practically sitting on the edge of their seats. Koel and Marriott were included in that, enjoying the battle between their teammates. They had always felt confident in their abilities, knowing that they could rely on their individual skills if they ever found themselves in danger, and they respected them and their qualities, and the two in question practically _demanded_ veneration in just the way they walked, and in cases like now, they would get it from anyone watching.

Meanwhile, the two combatants stared each other down, silently daring the other to make another move. It wasn't like there was some kind of resentment or real rancor between them, it was just the mutual competitor in them that refused to give in to the other.

Finally, Olivia broke the thin ice between them, as she charged Silver. Silver got into a defensive position, feeling ready for whatever was in store for her, even for when Olivia teleported, which she saw her eyes flash to the spot next to her, so she bounded away from that spot, though what she didn't prepare herself for was when, as soon as Olivia reappeared next to her, she disappeared a split second later, ending up virtually behind Silver. Silver spun around, immediately finding Parallel Egress coming her way, which she barely blocked in time, though it was only the beginning of Olivia's own personal move. It was a technique she called Dancing Blade, which was a combo of four extremely fast strikes; a downward slash, then back up, a horizontal strike, and lastly, the final maneuver was up to her opponents' position, and at the moment, Silver had blocked all the swings and slashes, but it was clear she wasn't balanced as she was being pushed back, and Olivia took note of that, making a quick decision to crouch low, and thrust a stab at Silver's chest.

Silver fell on her back as she did to Olivia, wincing at the sharp pang in her chest at the stab, but when she looked up, the first thing she saw was Olivia jumping at her, Parallel Egress high above her head, ready to bring it down to bring it down on her fallen partner, and possibly finish her. The pale-haired fighter gasped, her crimson eyes wide, and she rolled out of the way just as Olivia landed.

Silver immediately got back to her feet, rushing at Olivia before she could get back up, though she was too slow in doing so, her attacks being held off, before Olivia smites her with a spinning attack, making her pull back again. She felt her aura pulsing painfully against her, but she had no doubt that her adversary was feeling the same. She also had a feeling that if she landed one more powerful blow, that would be the end of the battle.

In other words, Silver was ready to finish the battle. It was as simple as she would end it, or Olivia would end up doing so in retaliation.

Silver didn't waste any time, channeling her semblance throughout her body. She sprinted towards Olivia, knocking her back slightly with a particularly strong punch, though she didn't intend for it to hit, but instead she vaulted at Olivia, and surged her semblance through her leg, having it end at her knee, and before Olivia could react to what she was doing, Silver landed her knee right in Olivia's gut, her semblance helping in power, and the knight was sent soaring back again, this time crashing against the wall with her back.

She dropped to the ground on her knees, gasping for breath, and then she heard the buzzer go off, signifying her defeat at the hands of her partner. Not like she felt like getting up at the moment, because _damn_ that _hurt_! She thought that for a second that hit did more than just drain her aura like it did, but maybe even broke a rib, but she realized after a few seconds that she may have just bruised her ribs instead, but either way, it still hurt. She could even feel a heavy, tingly feeling where Silver landed her knee, the after affect from her semblance use.

Silver threw her head back, facing the ceiling, and harshly exhaling. That was easily one of the most difficult fights she's ever had, but then a smile came to her face. Despite being extremely difficult, that was also the most fun she's ever had in a fight, and fitting that it was from her partner, the one that would know her fighting style, if it wasn't for Koel of course, but she had sparred with her adopted sister many times before, so fighting Olivia was a nice change.

She approached her orange-haired partner, who was still on her knees, trying to steady her breath, and regain her senses after the jarring blow, and for a second she got worried if she hit too hard. She crouched down to Olivia's level. "You okay, I didn't break through your aura, did I?"

Olivia chuckled. It was amazing that Silver could be so fierce in battle, but then be concerned afterwards. She took a deep breath, making a face of discomfort at the acuate aching below her chest. "You might have actually," she rasped out, looking up at Silver, noticing a look of concern starting to appear on the leader's face. "But it's fine, that's the danger of sparring against someone who knows what they're doing, especially if that someone is as strong as you are."

Silver chuckled in response, her concern subsiding a bit, and she offered her hand to Olivia, who took it, being pulled up to her feet.

As she stood, they could hear the students applauding them and their fight. They walked back towards the student section, Silver shaking her head at them, while Olivia rolled her eyes, feeling as though they got a little too excited over one fight, then again that was kinda the norm for society now, and really, she knew she was a hypocrite, because she, and Silver for that matter, did have fun watching the students fight.

"Very impressive." Glynda complimented the two, a rare impressed smile on her normally stoic face. "Congratulations you two, that was easily one of the most grandiose battles I've seen this year, between any of my classes. The both of you would be good examples for first years, in terms of what progress that can be made in a year."

They smiled back at her. It was very seldom indeed when Glynda Goodwitch complimented someone for their fighting, she was probably one of the hardest-to-impress people ever, so when she gave praise, it was normally a big deal.

* * *

"That was AWESOME!" Marriott exclaimed as they walked through the halls after class. "You guys sure did put on a show."

Koel hummed in agreement, smiling at them. "Yeah, t-that was probably the best fight of the year. M-might stay that way too."

"I will say," Silver chimed. "That was really fun," she looked at Olivia. "I wouldn't be against more spars with you."

Olivia chortled, casting a sideways look at the brawler. "Just so long as you don't try to break my ribs."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Silver then remembered the thing Olivia said before their spar, and her smile twisted into a mischievous smirk, glancing at her again. "Hey Olivia?"

"Hm?"

"I recall you saying 'bragging rights' before our fight."

"…you're not going to let me live this down, will you?"

* * *

 **Well...? Was it awesome, did it suck, or was it just meh? I tried REALLY hard to make this as entertaining as I could (as I normally do anyway), and I _think_ I did well enough, but I'll leave that up to you guys.**

 **Fun little factoids here, there were some references to Super Smash Bros. attacks; the Jolt Haymaker being a reference to one of Little Mac's attacks (yay rhymes!), Dancing Blade being a reference to Marth and Lucina from Fire Emblem, and the final attack that Silver used to beat Olivia is the Knee of Justice from Captain Falcon, *ahem* [insert Falcon Pawnch reference here].**

 **Also, I changed the name of Olivia's sword to what it obviously is now, because the name it had before was just some bullshit that I knew I wasn't going to keep, I just named it that at first because, as you guys know very well by now, I suck at creativity.**

 **Anyway, as I said in my update a few days ago, I don't really know when I'll be able to write a full chapter next and be able to upload do to my real-life schedule being pretty full, but I'll try to find time away from it all to work on this. Also, please tell me how you guys felt about this chapter, especially if you think my fight scenes are improving, I always feel real self-conscious about them.**

 **If you like this story, drop a favorite and follow, review if you have something to say, and I'll talk to you guys next chapter!**


	7. Guardian

**Well here is a little short chapter thing to give you guys a little content during this period that I'm currently in right now, stressing hardcore about this senior exit shit, but oh well, school is school.**

 **Though writing something like this was exactly what I needed to brighten my own mood, because let me tell you, I had a ton of fun writing this. Honestly I feel kinda narcissistic saying this, but I laughed a bit more than I really should have while writing this. By the way, I got a question after last chapter about the second part of Got Your Tail and when it will be. It will be after the next chapter, because the second part of Got Your Tail is mainly about Koel and Marriott, and so is the very next chapter as well, so I figure that would be the best time to have it. And also Nemasis, I am a dude, you had asked me last story, but it's all good. Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

Silver is more than used to getting picked on, her family history pretty well documented, but she didn't let it bother her typically, even when whoever was talking was bold enough to verbally attack her family name, she really didn't care or bother listening to it.

"Are you really everything your family is?"

… but it did get a bit annoying after a while.

"You sure do got a lot to live up to don't you?"

And this girl would just _not_ let her go live her life peacefully.

"Why is it that someone like you is automatically the best at something just because of their family's past? Why a faunus especially?"

Silver must have rolled her eyes a million times by this point, and they were just _now_ leaving their classroom. She didn't even know who this girl was, she had never even seen this girl around. ' _She must be some annoying, overconfident first year or something.'_

As already established, Silver was used to this stuff, but she has poised herself over the years to deal with these types whenever they might appear, there were some who were just going to hate for the sake of hating, she couldn't help that, so the best she could was just ignore it. But it didn't always help her when they were as relentless as _this_ one.

"I sure hope that first year went well," Silver could practically _hear_ the smirk in the words from the girl she refused to look at. "Sure would be a shame if your oh-so- _important_ family found out they had a failure."

Silver clenched her fists tightly. She was having a really difficult time keeping herself in check. Every time someone, specifically a human, wanted to get under her skin, she had taught herself to automatically think of the wise words her dad told her when she was much younger.

" _Keep yourself composed if they attack you, verbally or physically. If you counter a curse with a curse, they'll hear yours, if you counter a blow with a blow, they'll only see yours."_

" _But why are they like that?"_

" _They just want to prove that they're better than us, and they will do anything to do so, even if it means being worse."_

She was so innocent and blissfully unaware of the world around her back then, but she understood now, and she kept those words close to her heart, she wasn't going to let this despicable girl faze her. Silver took a deep breath, and endured it till the end.

Which didn't come too long afterwards.

She heard the girl shriek behind her, and she turned around to see her being lifted up and off the ground by none other than Marriott, who looked none too happy with the girl currently squealing and squirming in her grip.

The irate redhead practically glared holes in the back of the girl's head, holding her up tightly by her waist in an unrelenting grip, keeping her off the ground and stationary in midair. That's something she realized about Marriott not too long after they were put on the same team, that she really had incredible physical strength. Silver was sure that she could hold someone lightly (lightly for her standards of course) and keep them firmly planted in place. "Where's the trash can?" She demanded, though Silver wasn't sure if was actually serious or not, and Marriott looked around the hallway, some students starting to chuckle at the display.

"Hey Marriott," they randomly heard Olivia call from further down the hall. "There's a recycling bin over here."

Indeed, Olivia was in fact standing next to a recycling bin with Koel by her side, who looked ready to cause a murder scene as she glowered heavily at the girl.

Marriott nodded at them. "Bet, good enough." She then started to basically power-march to said recycling bin, still clutching the girl tightly on her way. The girl had stopped squirming, now stock-still in her arms, and a petrified look on her face.

"Wait, hold on, what do you think you're doing?!" She squeaked out.

Throughout this exhibition, all Silver could do was just silently stare, not really sure what was going on. She found out from Koel that Marriott could be awfully protective, and ruthless at that, but this was _not_ what she was expecting, so all she could do was stand by, her mouth slightly ajar.

But what happened next made her jaw practically drop to the floor.

The girl screamed as she was _dumped_ , just straight up _dropped_ into the recycling bin, her midsection completely submerged in it while her head and lower legs were the only things visible. She looked up at Marriott with more than disbelief, her eyes wide and mouth hanging open in incredulity, while Marriott stared back down at her with a cold, pitiless gaze.

Most of the students watching had burst into laughter as soon as Marriott dumped the girl, Olivia and Koel included, Koel in fact having to lean against the wall to keep from falling over. Silver though had yet to process what had just happened, her crimson eyes full of astonishment to say the least as she watched on, frozen at the spot where Marriott had picked up the girl. ' _What the fuck just happened?'_

While everyone balled in laughter around them, Marriott never so much as chuckled, but just continued to stare down at the girl in silence for almost a full minute before she finally spoke. "This is only level one punishment for messing with my teammate like that, don't give me a reason to increase the level, am I clear?" Her voice was just as icy as her gaze. The girl didn't respond, just kept staring up at her with the look of a kicked puppy, but Marriott of course didn't believe she was as innocent as one, and she wasn't going to tolerate a no response. "Am I clear!?" She questioned, or more like demanded, raising her voice dangerously.

The girl gasped, and vigorously nodded, seemingly shrinking back into the recycling bin, suddenly wanting to use it as protection more than anything. Marriott merely nodded back, not saying another word. She began to walk past the bin, but looked back after a couple steps, looking back at Silver once she realized she was still standing where she had. "Hey Silver, you coming or what?"

The warrior's call knocked her out of her trance, and she shook her head, beginning to numbly walk towards her.

After a few seconds, Koel and Olivia composed themselves enough to walk with them, and they all walked down the hall to get back to their dorm, though the two previously mentioned would still let out little giggles, unable to completely hold them in or muffle them. After not saying a word, or even making a sound of any kind, Silver finally spoke up. "You didn't just do that, did you?"

Marriott smirked at her disbelieving tone. "Hell yes I did."

"But why?" Silver couldn't help herself from asking. "Do you realize how much trouble you could get in, or what this could do to your public image?"

"Do you realize that I don't care?"

That made Silver's jaw snap shut, unable to find any more words

Met with silence, Marriott continued on. "I won't tolerate someone talking down to you like she did, or any of my friends for that matter. I won't let them badmouth you, your family, or even the fact that you're a faunus. I could care less about what people say about me, it doesn't affect me as much as when I see any of you getting picked on like that."

Silver was silent once more before she scoffed in amazement. "You really pride yourself on being the guardian of the team don't you?"

The redhead chuckled. "Yeah, I guess that's what I am, so yes, I pride myself on that very much."

The young team leader shook her head, though smiling fondly at her. "You can be really insufferable sometimes," she reached out and wrapped an arm around Marriott's neck in a side hug in a show of her gratitude. "But you're freaking amazing too."

* * *

 **So, uh, would you guys believe me if I said this was kinda based on a true story? Because it sort of is actually, not completely, but it loosely is. One of my friends from school actually did dump someone in a recycling bin last year after another one of my friends said "yo Marvin, there's a recycling bin over here" and yeah, you can guess how the rest of that went. Marvin is my friends name by the way, and he's actually on the wrestling team, and it's not a good idea to mess with someone who's on the wrestling team, don't you think? It wasn't for any kind of bullying if that's what you're wondering, but it was incredibly funny, and we all had fun with it afterwards, even the person he dumped.**

 **But you know what's even crazier than that?... the fact that the girl Marvin dumped is actually his girlfriend now. Yeah, total mind fuck there right?**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please favorite and follow if you enjoy this story, leave a review if you have something to say or ask, and I'll talk to you guys next time!**


	8. Submerge

**Uuuggghhhh. I had meant for this chapter to come out weeks ago guys, honestly! But unfortunately I got a serious case of writer's block that kept me from writing for a couple weeks at the least. It's strange, I have all these ideas for this story further down the line, but it's been difficult for me to translate those ideas into actual chapters. I'm really sorry this took so long, but hopefully the next chapter won't take nearly as long. Sorry again for basically dropping off the face of the Earth for a while there. But I'm still here and writing, even if I am a little slower than normal. Hopefully this chapter is worth the wait. We haven't exactly had too many chapters where it's just Koel and Marriott. Enjoy!**

* * *

The weekend at Beacon had finally arrived, and as usual, the students of all classes took it as a blessing where they could just get away and stay away from the classrooms and relax in their own way. Some teams of course hung out with each other over the couple days of free-time they had, while others split up to do their own thing.

Team SMOK kind of fluctuated between; one week they would be together, then the next they would split apart, and it was evident to Koel that as soon as the final class on Friday was over, it was going to be a 'split up' week. All of them seemed to have separate plans already in place.

All of them, except herself of course.

' _That's how it always seems to go.'_

Silver was called by an old friend from Mistral who had a couple tickets for a concert in Vale, and Koel insisted that she go, despite the fact that she herself really wanted to go too, so Silver was gone for the rest of the day.

Olivia was helping at her old foster home for the entire weekend, so there was definitely no seeing her.

And finally, Marriott was meeting up with some of her friends to go through Vale with.

All of them were gone early in the morning, and that left Koel all by her lonesome for the rest of said morning, and possibly even the rest of the day with nothing to do. She didn't have anywhere to go, no one to go see, so she just stayed in the dorm and did what most students did when nothing was left to do.

 _Sleeeeeeeep._

While being naturally shy and timid, she could also be a somewhat lethargic person. She grew bored very easily, and that led to her becoming _veeerrrryyyy_ tired a lot of the time, especially during classes, though she did her best to stay awake as much as possible. It sometimes annoyed her, because no matter how much sleep she would get at night, she still found herself moving sluggishly throughout the day. It was just another aspect about herself that she didn't like, but she couldn't change it.

So since she didn't have anything to do, her first idea of course was to stay in bed until she couldn't anymore.

But the universe had different plans for her.

She was almost asleep when her ears perked up on top of her head, picking up on the faint _click_ of the door opening. She forced her eyes open (it took more effort than it really should have), and picked her head up off the pillow, seeing Marriott walking in.

The redhead noticed her partner's groggy and somewhat annoyed expression, and she quickly shot her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I forgot my scroll." She explained, picking it up from her own bed, and quickly shoved it in her pocket.

She was just about to walk back out the door before she abruptly stopped, looking back at Koel. "Do you know what you're doing today, other than sleeping?"

Koel closed her eyes again, rolling onto her side. "No."

"Do you know what you're doing tomorrow?"

"No."

"Next week?"

"No."

"With your life?!"

"…no."

Marriott gave an exasperated sigh. "Come on, there must be something that you can do but lay in bed all day, or someone you can hang out with. What about Silver?"

Koel sighed, picking herself up from the bed to sit up, the covers falling from her torso to pool around her waist. "She's going to a Red Stallion concert."

"Olivia?"

"Foster home."

"Well damn." Marriott muttered, trying to think of something for her partner. She didn't want her to waste the entirety of the day lazying around in bed the whole time. She wanted her to be active, just a little energetic and happy. "How about you come with me and my friends to Vale then?"

Koel looked up at her with a completely blank look in her half-open gray eyes, still exceptionally tired and not really wanting to do anything but lay down some more. "…why?"

Marriott stared back at her with a stony expression of her own. "Well, because it's the freaking weekend, and you should do something at some point, and since the other two are apparently out of commission, why not?" She was met with the same deadpanned look from her partner, and she sighed again, lowering her head briefly before raising back up, a slightly pleading look present in her hazel eyes. "Please Koel, we haven't really done anything this year with each other, and since we have time, we could now. I'm already heading out, and you have nothing else to do, so why the hell not?"

Koel continued to stare at her, the redhead putting on her best puppy-dog eyes she could, which was surprisingly effective considering her build. After a few seconds of silence, Koel's resolve finally broke, and she sighed. "Fiiiiine, I'll go." She caved, throwing the blankets out of her lap, and moving to get up.

Marriott squealed quietly at her acceptance, smiling at her partner. "Great! Get dressed and we'll meet my friends at the bullhead."

* * *

From the time that Marriott talked her into going with her, getting dressed, and now walking towards the bullhead where her partner's friends supposedly were, she was not any more awake than she previously was, which wasn't at all really.

She just didn't feel like being around people right now. Though when did she ever in the first place? Save for Silver and Alexandrite, she never had any desire to be around anyone for any reason. She supposed that she could add Marriott and maybe Olivia to the list of "people she felt at least kind of comfortable around", but that didn't mean she wanted to be anywhere but in the dorm at the moment.

She felt good enough around Marriott, even if the perpetual enthusiasm and excitement that she carried around with her was a little too much for Koel sometimes, she was a good friend who cared about her.

That fact baffled her sometimes, that someone who was so widely known and highly regarded and respected would care so much for a no-name like herself.

Koel blinked. Boy, that was kinda harsh to herself, though in truth, thoughts like that weren't entirely uncommon. Never had she held a high opinion of herself to say the least. She wasn't the most self-confident person to ever exist, that's for sure, and her self-esteem was definitely lacking, which all of this was the result of her history of bullying. Before Marriott and Olivia, getting put down by others that weren't Silver and Alexandrite was a normal thing for her, which was her fault for the most part because she made herself such an easy target due to her quiet, shy nature that was obvious from just looking at her, and outside of her sisters, no one really bothered to defend her from it all.

From the moment she got to Beacon, she was sure that it would continue, with so many people bigger and stronger and superior to her, Koel assumed it would be inevitable.

Then Marriott walks into her life, someone who is all of these things. She is much taller and more intimidating than her, her physical strength outweighs hers by a bit too much for Koel to process sometimes, and overall, she was superior to her in many ways, though despite this, and her initial thoughts of how their partnership would be, Marriott ended up using her size, strength, and superiority to defend her.

Marriott never complained or whined either, she always seemed perfectly fine defending her smaller partner (or the entire team for that matter). She even ended with a smile on her face afterwards, ever proud of herself, and when Koel would stutter out her appreciation, Marriott always waved it off, smile persisting, and insisting that what she did wasn't that big of a deal, that she was just doing what was right to do.

Being treated like this was so incredibly different from what she was used too, in fact, it almost reminded her of how Alexandrite would defend her. It always seemed so unconditional, no matter the situation, Marriott seemed to always just appear to be there for her.

As grateful as she was, it was also quite demoralizing. Don't get her wrong, she truly, genuinely was grateful that she had a partner that had no problem standing up for her, but to Koel, it seemed to prove further that she will never be able to stand her own ground, and that took a mental toll on her. She saw that she might have been the weakest fighter of the team, at the very least the others could stand up to anyone they needed to. Silver was never afraid to put someone in their place, Olivia could scare anyone away with a quick glare and a pull of Parallel Egress, and Marriott was like a combination of the two; she would either "put you in your place", or scare you away before she needed to do so.

But Koel just cowered. When cornered, she'd whimper in fear, and her ears would flatten against her head. She really would resemble a frightened kitten with nowhere to go. That's when Marriott would appear and shoo off her assailants.

"Koel!"

The cat-faunus jumped, and an audible "eep" escaped her as she heard Marriott call her. She looked up at her, seeing a slightly impatient look on the redhead's face. "Y-yes?"

The warrior furrowed her brow, frowning slightly in concern. "Are you feeling okay? You looked like you were in a completely different galaxy just now."

Ever the caring one, Marriott was. And blunt too. Koel blushed in embarrassment at being caught in her woolgathering. She must have looked like a zombie walking to anyone going by, which only served to add to her discomfiture. "Sorry, I just thought of…" Damn, how did she say this? She didn't really feel comfortable revealing her personal problems at the moment. Though did she ever? "Just thinking about a few things all at the same time."

Her response was a little pitiful on Marriott's side if she were honest. She was a little more quiet than normal, and looked far too conflicted than could be considered mentally healthy. It was really worrying, but she knew Koel to be that kind of person who hides every single thing from everyone because she just didn't feel like saying anything at that moment. It sometimes made Marriott feel a little uneasy, and she didn't know if it were a trust issue, or just who she truly was and how she worked. She certainly hoped it wasn't a trust issue. Marriott found out very quickly that her smaller partner wouldn't be the type to just hand trust out like candy, but if there was still an issue with that now, than… well, what could Marriott do other than ask what was wrong and what she could do to help. That's what she's supposed to do as her partner right?

"Koel," She spoke softly. "You can tell me whatever you want, it won't alter my opinion of you. I'll listen to anything you have to say."

Koel actually smiled a little at that. Marriott really did make her feel safe and accepted, despite her status and title. When she thought something was wrong, she was going to make sure that everything was okay. Though even that had a negative to it, because at times, Marriott could be a little to nosy and persistent, and there were situations that she didn't really have a place in, but Koel was never going to tell her off for it. Marriott didn't deserve that, all she wanted to do was make things okay, and it's not like Koel could actually build up the courage to tell her off anyway.

Koel would never punish her for caring about her, even though the persistence did annoy her slightly. Marriott was only like that because she cared greatly, probably even a little too much for her own good at times. It was just who she was, and Koel couldn't change that, nor would she really try.

"I know Marriott, there are just… well," Looking up at Marriott, she could see the concern in those hazel eyes, and it made it hard to dismiss her. "It's just something I don't want to talk about right now. Maybe another time though." That was literally the best she could do.

Marriott didn't look that much more alleviated, but she knew when her partner wanted to keep a secret of some kind, she would damn well keep it. Just another way they were completely opposite, Marriott probably couldn't keep her mouth shut about most things without having to be reeled back in by her team. She definitely wasn't the ideal person to intrust secrets to, that's for sure.

Marriott sighed, feeling like that's all she could do. "Alright, if you say so." She relented. "But I'll hold you to talking to me later."

Koel only nodded in response, and they continued to walk to the bullhead, which it didn't take too long to arrive at it, and Koel noticed 4 other people standing in front of it, chatting about with each other, and Koel guessed that they were Marriott's friends.

And of course, as her luck would have it, Koel had just now realized that she would have to meet new people. _'Greeeaaat.'_

* * *

"Well, did you have fun Koel? At least a little?"

Much to her own surprise, Koel did rather enjoy herself quite a bit. The two partners were on their way back to Beacon, on the bullhead in fact, right as the sun was starting its slow decent towards sunset and natural light was dimming slightly, and Koel actually had a fun time. Marriott's friends seemed nice enough, if anything they were all a lot like Marriott herself, so she found them predictable if nothing else.

But all in all, she had a good time. Marriott's friends received her very well, and they all had their fun in Vale. They went to a place for breakfast, walked around Vale for a while before catching a movie, then went to another place for lunch, then one of Marriott's friends dragged them to an arcade to spend some time, and even though she hadn't said it, when Koel was younger, she had a bit of a gamer streak, normally when she wasn't training, she would be playing around on her old IS, and going to that arcade brought back some of those old memories of wasting time on that thing. It actually brought a smile to her face, a genuine one.

That was the last thing they did before splitting apart, though Marriott still had something she had to do, and that was to go to a clothes store, and Koel didn't object, she knew herself that she needed new clothes of her own. She felt like her current ones were getting a bit stale.

When they were done, they went to the bullhead to go back to Beacon, where they currently found themselves now, with a few bags of newly bought clothes by their sides, and Koel realized at this moment, that today wasn't a totally waste of a day like she originally thought it would be. Quite the opposite in fact.

"You know," She began to answer, a small smile surfacing. "I did a little. Probably the most fun I've had here actually."

The smile that came to Marriott's face was practically blinding. She thought her face might split if she held it for too long. "Good! So getting you up this morning was a good idea then."

Koel bashfully looked up at the redhead through her bangs, her smile still present. "It wasn't bad. Thank you Marriott."

Marriott's heart nearly melted at Koel's soft statement of appreciation, and her own smile stayed. She wrapped one arm around Koel's shoulders. "No problem Koel! I like seeing you happy! Glad you had fun."

Koel stiffened at Marriott's sudden gesture, but she relented quickly and relaxed in the small embrace as they flew back to Beacon. But she got this strange feeling in her stomach at Marriott's side hug, something entirely foreign to what she's felt before. This weird tingly feeling, but she couldn't place the reason for this… oh well, she could think about it later, for now, she'll just enjoy herself a little while longer.

* * *

Koel arrived back the team's dorm a while later by herself after Marriott got sidetracked by ANOTHER one of her friends from an upperclassmen team (her friend circle certainly wasn't lacking, that's for sure). So here she was, dragging herself into the dorm with a few bags full of clothes (they were honestly heavier than they looked, either that or she was just that we-NO, nope, not going back down they road again!…). She dropped them by her bed, and sat down rather heavily, sighing in the process.

She found herself quite confused at the moment due to that strange feeling on the bullhead. The only way she could describe it was tingly, like butterflies, though she couldn't say why that kind of feeling surfaced in the first place. It was just a peculiar feeling she had not really felt for any situation, but as soon as she thought about Marriott, that same feeling reappeared at that very moment, and this only served to confuse her further.

She kept trying to think of solutions, but every time, Marriott would resurface in her mind, and Koel basically had no choice but to think about her partner for a second. For the past year, Marriott had played such a major role in her life, she'd been there pretty much every second of every day, always looking out for her. The redheaded warrior had been so generous, unconditionally so. Marriott was not selfish in any way, she always was putting others before herself.

Marriott was one of those people that Koel had a genuinely hard time finding some reasons for anyone to dislike her. There were just too many things to like about her. Marriott was an amazing fighter and so fun to watch, but she still had a gentle and level personality, even if she could be a little too ardent sometimes. She had a somewhat deep but melodic voice that could keep you listening for hours on end, and not to mention that she was just a physically beautiful person in general that could have anyone she wants at the snap of a finger.

Koel stopped her mid-thought, blinking. She was quickly finding herself practically _doting_ over her partner-

' _Wait…'_

Doting. Tingly feelings?

Misty eyes widened. _'Oh gods… am I…?'_

Her inner panic was cut short by the door abruptly opening, and she almost jumped through the ceiling of the dorm as Marriott walked in, blissfully unaware of the raven-haired girl's distress, though she did look somewhat amused when she saw Koel jump off the bed like she did. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." She noticed her partner's cheeks were extremely red, and she raised an eyebrow at her. "You feeling okay? You look really flushed there."

Koel nodded quickly, probably a little too quick even. "Y-yeah, I-I'm fine!"

Marriott flinched a little at Koel's slightly raised volume, and her confusion rose, but she figured it was just from the inner-workings of her partner's mind, and she knew she wouldn't completely understand some things about Koel. "Alright," she relented. "Hey, I'm going to use the bathroom real quick, then if you want we can do something around Beacon, or we could just chill in here for the rest of the evening." And with that, she retreated into the bathroom, leaving Koel alone with her thoughts for a little longer, or rather, just one thought by itself.

' _Oh gods, am I seriously falling for Marriott!?'_

* * *

 **Koel has a little problem.**

 **Good lord I hope this was good enough. A couple of quick things here though, I made a couple references to some things that play major roles in my life. The most obvious of the two is the whole 'IS' thing, which is of course a nod to the Nintendo DS, which I play quite regularly. I even had a group of friends at school last year in the cafeteria where all we did was play Super Smash Bros on the DS. Great things happened in the process, but** **that's a story for a different time.**

 **The other thing is much more obscure. The 'Red Stallion' bit, that is a reference to a real life band simply called 'RED', and if you are a rock/metal fan of any kind, just like I did with Evans Blue last story, I highly recommend you listen to RED, they even dropped a new album last month called 'Gone', go listen to them, they're amazing, and I just had to make a reference to them at some point.**

 **Now on to the next chapter, it hopefully won't take 2 months to write, and I doubt it will, but that's of course pending any more writer's block I get, or school shit, or whatever else happens. There will be a mini-chapter before then, that's guaranteed, but that's about all I can promise. If you enjoy my stories, leave a favorite and follow, and if you have any questions or comments, leave a review. Talk to you guys later!**


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